TYLER, Texas — When one thinks of a leader, the picture of a heroic quarterback leading a last-minute drive or a statesman making an inspirational speech may come to mind. However, out of the spotlight are leaders who perform with great works with little fanfare or recognition.
For nearly two decades, Dr. Kirk Calhoun has worked in the UT Health Science Center. For much of that time, he has worked behind the scene to help the system grow to a leading medical system in East Texas.
"My main goal was we had to become bigger," Dr. Calhoun said.
This was not an easy goal to achieve. It took years of work to help expand training and research programs across the region.
"We could become more involved in the community health, and helping improve the health of Northeast Texas," Dr. Calhoun explained.
After 17 years, that hard work is paying off.
The real beneficiary to all of Dr. Calhoun's work is the people in East Texas. In securing a partnership with the East Texas Medical Center, Dr. Calhoun helped architect the system known now as UT Health East Texas. With that partnership, the system has close to 1,000 beds, allowing more programs to be implemented.
"The residency training programs we'll be developing over the next couple of years, we've already received approval from the [legislature] from the regulators, 60 new internal medicine training slots here, 15 surgery training slots here, we're going to be training our own surgeons for northeast Texas, right here," Dr. Calhoun explained.
Dr. Calhoun's leadership does not stop at growing the UT Health East Texas system. In his view, building leadership within the community through education is key to building a strong community. That starts with the younger generation.
"I talk to young people a lot. And what I try to impart to them is the importance of when opportunities come along, don't be shy about taking advantage of those opportunities," Dr. Calhoun said. "When you're asked to take a leadership role, don't say 'No.' Say 'Yes! I'll do that!"
Dr. Calhoun says his own success in life is a result of his willingness to take on extra leadership roles from his years in high school through his long career. He believes that attitude of willingness to lead will go a long way in developing a new generation of can-do leaders.
"You may not feel you have all the tools necessary to control the situation," Dr. Calhoun said. "When those sort of things came along, and everybody else would take a step back, I would take a step forward."
That can-do attitude, however, is not the only quality that makes a leader. Behind each great leader is a community of people who helped make that possible. Dr. Calhoun says it is imperative for a great leader to recognize that community. He paraphrased a book called 'Good to Great' by Jim Collins to demonstrate his point.
"When things go well, they look out the window at the crowd, and they congratulate everybody outside who helped make things go well. And when things go poorly, they go and they look in the mirror, and they say, 'Why did you screw that up?'" Dr. Calhoun said. "And I think that that's the way a good leader needs to be thinking all the time - that it is important to recognize that nobody achieves anything alone. I've had many teachers and other folks show interest in me as I was pursuing my my career. And they helped me along and I've had business associates who who've helped me along."